Maresca allays Nkunku injury worries after Chelsea friendly
Enzo Maresca allayed any fears Christopher Nnunku might have picked up another injury after Chelsea beat Club America 3-0 in a pre-season friendly in Atlanta.
Nkunku and Noni Madueke both netted from the penalty spot, while recent signing Marc Guiu scored his first goal for the Blues.
It gave Maresca his first win since taking over as Chelsea head coach.
But Nkunku appeared to be struggling as he was taken off late on.
The French forward was troubled by injuries during his first season at Stamford Bridge following last year’s big-money move from RB Leipzig.
He missed the first few months of the campaign with a knee problem and was also out between February and April.
However, Maresca insisted the problem was “just cramp” and that there were no concerns about Nkunku’s fitness.
There were debuts for new signings Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and keeper Filip Jorgensen, with the midfielder featuring after recovering from injury.
Neither Nicolas Jackson nor Moises Caicedo were involved but both are “very close” to being fit, Maresca said.
Chelsea: Sanchez (Jorgensen 45); James (Veiga 63), Badiashile (Fofana 63), Adarabioyo, Gusto (Chilwell 71); Lavia (Ugochukwu 63), Dewsbury-Hall (Fernandez 45), Nkunku (Angelo 83); Madueke (George 83), Guiu (Broja 63), Sterling (Mudryk 63).
